Public Health says it has identified the source of a recent cluster of coronavirus cases in the island and is telling islanders there is no reason to be worried about continued infection from it.

Dr Nicola Brink says she recognises the community has been extremely concerned about these cases and at the time they were identified the source was unknown to her department.  

"We are now in a position to confirm that we believe we have identified the source of the infection and that all necessary retrospective steps have been taken to ensure that the spread of COVID-19 has been identified and contained.  It is always possible that reintroduction occurs – what happened here was the efficient test, track and isolation programme enabled a rapid response and containment.

"10 positive cases were identified in this cluster – 6 were related to a specific venue (which was not the source of the original infection), 3 were family members and 1 was a work colleague (again not the source of the original infection). We can also confirm that the source of the infection was not a student."

Public Health says its enhanced testing capacity allowed them to carry out widespread testing and 268 contacts were tested regarding the cluster.

"Since 21st September, as part of our community testing programme, we have tested nearly 3000 symptomatic people in the community and none of these individuals have tested positive.

"There is no reason for the community to be concerned about the prospect of continued infection from the source of infection or this cluster of cases that was identified. We are unable to provide any more information as it is essential that we respect confidentiality and establish a rapport with positive cases as to do otherwise would impact on the efficacy of our contact tracing. ‘